


All three of them

by BoWritesStuff



Series: Oneshots! [9]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 08:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15703341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BoWritesStuff/pseuds/BoWritesStuff
Summary: Dan leaves Game Grumps to work on his music and Arin has a hard time coping without his friend





	All three of them

The entirety of the Gam/e Grum/ps fandom was in shock, and Dan’s name was in the trending tags on tumblr, twitter, and instagram. The news apparently caught everyone off guard, leaving fans scrambling to find out more of what would happen. Rumors were flying, people wondered why Dan would leave so unexpectedly. 

No one expected Dan to leave. 

A few days ago, he told the rest of the team. They were sad to see him go, but they had a better reaction than the masses did. They understood where he was coming from. Working on his albums and recording video games every day was starting to drain him, and they had noticed that he came into the studio with less and less energy. Although they all said they were going to miss him, they all were excited for him and his future. This was something that Dan had made, and something that he loved doing. 

He had to listen to his own words. Follow your stupid motherfucking dreams. 

Right now he was heading to D.C. to work with a professional sound mixer and someone who can teach him vocals. Brian was going to follow a month or so later, which was completely understandable since Brian had a wife and kid and Dan didn’t. 

He had been on the plane for seven hours, two hours longer than what he originally thought, but he wasn’t bothered too much. It was good to get away from social media during this hurricane of panic. It was actually calming. For the last two days, all he could think about was his new music and the lovelies’ reaction and how everyone was talking about him. 

It was nice to just be in the air, relaxing, watching really old movies. 

The plane came to a stop not too long after, and Dan wandered around the airport, trying to find his luggage. Just when he found his first bag, nearly ten minutes later, his phone rang. 

Huh. Arin’s calling? He checked the time on his phone, which was still on LA’s time zone. It was still only 9 in the morning over there. 

“Hey, man.” Dan grunted, trying to get his bag off of the moving belt. There was a silence on the other end of the phone. 

“Hi.” Arin’s voice was tired, but not in the way that he-didn’t-get-any-sleep tired. It was more like the I’ve-been-too-emotional tired. Both types of tired sometimes occurred while they were recording games. Dan was worried. It had only been a few days since he told Arin what was his plan, and only eight hours since he left. 

“What’s up? You seem… tired.” Dan said, finally succeeded in recovering his bag from the luggage claim. He extended the handle, and went to the exit. He had an Uber waiting for him. 

“Just… I miss you.” 

“I miss you too.” Dan said with a smile, walking to the car that he had ordered. 

-

“Hey Dan.” 

“Arin’s, it’s four in the morning in LA. What are you doing this early?” Dan muttered. He woke up not too long ago, since he was meeting his new sound mixer that morning. It was still far too early for him to be up. For both of them. 

“Uh…. I don’t know. I just… thought you might be up, y’know?” Arin rambled. Dan put him on him on speaker, and continued changing into his clothes. 

“Arin, you should get some sleep.” Dan paused, thinking. “Did you get any sleep?” 

“No.” 

“God, man. That isn’t healthy. You can’t do recording on no sleep.” Dan had tried it before, and it was the worst day of his life. 

“It’s funny, man. The lovelies like it, the confused stupid stuff I say, y’know?” Arin said in a flat voice. Dan wasn’t sure that Arin’s tiredness would cause the usual stupid humor that it did. He was pretty sure that it would just make the episode quiet and more full of the “Game Over” screen. 

The way that Arin sighed seemed to suggest that he agreed with Dan, despite his words. 

-

Dan’s phone rang. He knew who it was. Arin called every day now, an endearing show of affection. They would talk for hours sometimes, when they had the chance. Talking about everything and nothing, trying to keep the connection between them, but as Dan got more busy and as Arin got more busy, it was becoming more difficult to talk. 

Right now, Dan was eating lunch, so it was a lucky break. He crumbled up the burrito wrapper, and picked up the phone. 

“Hey, man. How are you doing?” 

There was a lonely silence on the other end of the conversation. 

“I miss you Dan.” 

A lot of their phone calls started with this. Blunt statements that would shatter Dan’s heart. He tried to ignore the desperate tone in Arin’s voice. 

“I miss you too Arin.” 

Arin seemed to think about Dan’s response before continuing with a regular conversation, about how they were trying to find someone to fill in the space of “Not so Grump.” 

It’s been nearly a week. How have they not found someone? They have a large network of people that they can choose from, and they had already talked about this. When Dan left, they had narrowed the choice down to four people. Why was it taking them so long? Doing solo videos was certainly doing a toll of Arin’s mental health. 

“I don’t know anymore.” Arin said with a sigh. “I just… I don’t want to replace you.” 

Their phone calls began and ended very similarly. With blunt statements that would shatter Dan’s heart. 

-

Arin listened to the mind-numbing ringtone again. It was the fifth time he had called, and he had sent eighteen texts. Suzy told him that Dan was probably just busy right now, but she didn’t stop him. Dan and Arin were something special. She had no place to get in between them. 

He felt panic rising in his chest as the Dan’s voice told him to leave a voice message. Dan never missed their calls. 

What happened? Was he hurt? Did someone attack him? Did he fall down the stairs? Was he sick? God, please don’t let him be hurt. 

Arin dialed Dan’s phone number again. 

\- 

God, the recording session was beautiful, the new sound mixer and the team of his sound producers were doing magic for his music, but God, it was exhausting sometimes. Between his voice training, making business deals, and trying to help his team bring his new album to life, he hardly had any time for himself.   
The rare times he did manage to get some off time he spent eating, sleeping or calling his old friends. 

The sound team was packed up, telling him what a wonderful day of recording it had been, and what the plans were, how long it would be before a certain song was ready. Dan barely heard any of it, and they seemed to notice. They kept their goodbyes short, leaving Dan by himself in the studio. 

He packed up everything he brought. His planner, headphones, water, and wallet. He checked his phone, and did a double take. On the small, bright screen were multiple notifications. 

Arin  
Missed Call

Arin  
Dan??

Arin  
Missed Call

Arin  
You’re really scaring me please pick up

Arin  
Missed Call (3)

Arin  
You’re probably just recording but this is really starting to make me panic. 

Dan quickly scrolled through the rest, skimming over more anxiety ridden texts and a few texts from Suzy, worried about Arin. 

The worried texts from his two best friends were blurred out. 

Arin calling…

Dan quickly accepted the call with shaking hands. God, Arin was so worried for him. Even Suzy had noticed and decided to reach out to him during that time. 

“Oh, God, Dan.” Arin managed to sob. Dan’s heart broke. Arin’s breathing was wildly out of control, his sobs were loud and obvious. He wasn’t even attempting to be quiet. The only words he managed to say was Dan’s name, over and over, like it was some sort of prayer that would help him. 

“Arin, I’m so sorry. Listen to me, alright? Can you listen to my voice, Arin?” Dan asked. There was a brief pause between sobs, and Dan could only hope that was a yes. “Listen to my voice. Just breathe. I’m fine. I’m not hurt. I just finished recording, alright?” 

Arin’s breathing isn’t so heavy or rough now, but he’s still crying, unable to speak. Dan thinks for a second. 

“It’s not too different than recording with you. It’s not as fun, but I still get to joke around and do what I love.” Dan paused, listening to Arin. He’s seemed to calm down just a little bit. “With the people I love.” 

Arin swallows, his breathing was still ragged and uncontrollable, but less panicked than it was before. 

“Dan?” 

“Yeah, Arin? I’m here.” 

“I was really worried about you.” It sounds stupid, but it’s the only thing that he can think of to say. Dan takes it. At least Arin has his breathing under enough control to talk now. 

“Yeah, I can tell Big Cat. Even Suzy texted me. We’re all really worried about you, Arin.” The old nickname seemed to help Arin. On the other side of the country, on the other side of the phone call, on the other side of the conversation, Arin wiped his eyes. His anxieties are just starting to settle. Dan is okay. Dan is fine. Dan is here, talking to him. 

“I just… I just freaked out, and I didn’t even know why! I know that if you were hurt, someone would tell me but… I don’t know. I don’t really know.” Arin trailed off. 

“Hey, it’s all okay. I’m not gonna get hurt, alright?” Dan waited for a second, for a response. He wanted to know if Arin can hear him talking. 

“Mhm.” 

“And I’m going to visit once this album is released, remember? It’s only going to take a few weeks, two months at the latest.” 

Arin can feel a lump form in his throat. Two months? 

“And I know it’s tough for you. But I think I should call you from now. I really like your phone calls, but my schedule is really jam packed right now. And I don’t want you to panic like this again.” Dan tried to be strict, but he ended up just going back to his normal speech. He’s just Dan. He doesn’t need to order Arin around. He’s just Arin’s friend, and he wants Arin to be safe. 

“Yeah. Yeah, I get that.” 

Dan thought of what he should say. It isn’t something that he wanted to say, but it seemed that Arin doesn’t understand. 

“Arin, I love you. And I miss you. And you’re my best friend. But I don’t want you to keep doing this. It’s fine for you to miss me, but this is starting to really hurt you. I don’t want you to lose sleep over me. I don’t want you to freak out about me.” Dan listened for anything, but Arin stayed quiet. Dan doesn’t know on the other side of the country, Arin agreed with him just now. “I’ll visit. I’ll still be your best friend. I just… don’t want you to keep on hurting yourself like this.” 

Arin nodded. 

“Yeah. Yeah, Dan. I will.” Arin took a deep breath, running a head through his messy hair. “I need to get some sleep.” 

“Yeah, I think that’s for the best. Goodnight.” 

“Night.” 

Dan listened to the beeping of the phone before he turned it off and left the studio. He gets one last text. 

Suzy  
Thank you so much.

“Hey, Suze.” Arin said, returning to the bedroom, where Suzy waited the entire time that he was calling Dan. She has a relieved and tired smile on her face. 

“Comere.” she muttered. 

It’s going to be difficult. 

But they’ll survive. All three of them.


End file.
